Accommodation websites stand accused of not carrying out adequate checks on hosts, turning stays into nightmares

Becky Stewart* and her partner were getting ready for the first full day of their short break in Barcelona when a group made up of police, social workers, council staff, a judge and a locksmith came into their flat and told them to leave within two minutes.

It transpired that the place they were staying in, along with other travellers who had taken rooms, was an unlicensed rental property. And the people advertising it on Booking.com had not paid their rent for months, prompting the morning raid by the authorities, who were not even aware that tourists were staying there.